KC Metro Power 8: Week 5

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>That's right, Week 5! We missed Week 4, but not intentionally. For those who know baseball/softball, I'm on a bit of a “pitch count” each month and couldn't go over it. Now that we're into a new month, I'm back at it with an updated KC Metro Top 8.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A LOT has happened since Week 3, which made this one pretty interesting. Lee's Summit West got its “get-back” against Lee's Summit North after North beat them at the Mo-Kan Tournament. West responded two days later with a 3-1 win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I also haven't seen the latest results from Lee's Summit North's tournament this past weekend, where both teams were in attendance. So, for today, I'm operating with the information I have at my disposal. If something major happened that I haven't seen yet, well...that's what Week 6 is for.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">1. Lee's Summit West (22-3) — LW: 3</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Welcome back to the top, Titans.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>West has moved back into the No. 1 spot after avenging its loss to North and hasn't lost a match since — unless something happened over the weekend that hasn't made its way across my desk yet.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Titans have been putting together the kind of stretch that makes it hard to keep them out of the top spot. [player_tooltip player_id='733125' first='Hallie' last='Ganga'] continues to swing a heavy arm from the middle and is still hitting above .370 on the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">2. Lee's Summit North (22-4) — LW: 1</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>North drops one spot, but I'm certainly not dropping them out of the conversation.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In addition to the loss to West, North also dropped a match to Kickapoo in its tournament over the weekend. As I mentioned above, I haven't seen the tournament results beyond pool play, so I don't know how the Broncos ultimately finished.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>What I do know is that, right now, I still believe they're the second-best team in the city.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>And there's another name starting to make some noise. Freshman [player_tooltip player_id='1023491' first='Tinsley' last='Bahr'] is emerging as a legitimate scoring threat, averaging just over 2.5 kills per set. That's a freshman who could become a pretty important piece when the postseason rolls around.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">3. St. Michael the Archangel (19-5) — LW: NR</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Well, hello there, Guardians.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. Michael was ranked to start the season, and now they're making a pretty convincing argument that they belong back in the mix — jumping all the way to No. 3.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>They're playing some of their best volleyball of the season right now, with recent wins over Oak Grove, St. Pius X, and Blue Valley West. And they're not just winning; they're on a 12-match winning streak.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='396499' first='Kinley' last='Gillihan'] also recently eclipsed 1,000 career kills, adding another milestone to what has been a strong stretch for the Guardians.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">4. Oak Grove (17-3) — LW: 2</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Oak Grove takes the biggest hit in the rankings this week after getting swept by St. Michael last weekend.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>That loss doesn't erase what the Panthers have done this season, but with St. Michael playing the way they are right now, I couldn't keep Oak Grove ahead of them.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Panthers are still very much a team I expect to be in the conversation when the postseason gets here.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">5. St. Pius X (24-4) — LW: 5</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here's one thing I really like about Pius this year: they aren't afraid to go play.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>They lost the championship match to Adrian at the Hy-Vee Invitational, then turned around and went after one of Kansas' top 4A programs, Topeka Hayden — and beat them.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Then they ran into the St. Michael train and got swept in three.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>That's a pretty good stretch of volleyball.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>MiKayla Fox continues to put up some ridiculous numbers, hitting in the mid-.400s on the season, and that's with a whole lot of swings coming her way.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">6. Smithville (17-3-1) — LW: 4</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Smithville slides a couple of spots, but it's not because the Warriors have suddenly fallen apart.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Since the last ranking, Smithville has dropped just one match, a five-setter to Ray-Pec.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>That's a pretty respectable loss, and Smithville remains a team that can make things uncomfortable for just about anybody on the right day.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">7. Mid-Buchanan (30-1) — LW: NR</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Welcome to the party, Mid-Buchanan.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>When I first started debating whether to put the Bulldogs in this ranking, they were undefeated. They finally took their first loss over the weekend to Rockwood Summit in tournament play.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>But at 30-1, you don't just ignore that kind of record.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>They're just north of Platte City and within my geographical range to join the party, and when I started looking through the schedule, I found some quality wins that made the decision a little easier.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='698690' first='Tatum' last='Moss'] leads the Bulldogs with 248 kills on the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">8. Pleasant Hill (15-5-2) — LW: NR</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The third new team to crack this week's rankings is Pleasant Hill.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Roosters have been a strong program traditionally, and they've put together a resume this season that deserves some attention.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the biggest wins? Adrian. That's the same Adrian team that just won the 40-team Hy-Vee Invitational.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pleasant Hill also has wins over quality Savannah and East Buchanan teams. The losses include ranked St. Michael, St. Pius, and a strong Benton team that I recently had a chance to see in person.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>And I like the 1-2 punch they're getting offensively from [player_tooltip player_id='488383' first='Miley' last='Layton'] and [player_tooltip player_id='773267' first='Laney' last='Rowe'], with both players approaching 200 kills on the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->